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Medicare Gold, one of Labor's key election policies, aimed to
provide free health care to over 75s, but at yesterday's caucus
meeting all reference to over 75s was removed from the list of
policy principles.

But Mr Latham today told the Victorian ALP conference in
Melbourne that his commitment to the idea of the policy
remains.

"What we can't do at this stage of the political cycle ... is
put a dollar sign next to the policy to fully cost it, fully fund
it to have financial commitments," he said.

"That would be irresponsible. How can we know the state of the
books three years from now?

"We can't fund the policy as of today but we stand by its
principles."

He said Labor would not back away from its schools policy,
saying: "I assure you we will continue our campaign for needs-based
funding in the schools sector - fairness for all Australian
schools, not just some."

Mr Latham also used his speech to sell Labor's new economic
direction, with a push to target the new middle class of small
businesses and independent contractors.

Labor needed to beef up its economic credentials and "move with
the times or be left behind", he said.

He said franchise-holders and contractors were being abused by
big corporations and Labor should apply its traditional values of
fairness and cooperation to protect them, in the way that unions
protected the rights of the working class.

"We want to support them as much as we support workers who are
being ripped off in the system," he said.

He said he stood by the traditional Labor industrial relations
policy of enterprise bargaining agreements.